Mother Jones
By: Tracie McMillan
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The more likely outcome of a complicated eligibility system, regardless of who runs it, is that people leave the program, losing insurance and suffering the health effects that will cause. In June, Arkansas became the first state to implement work requirements for its Medicaid clients, spending about $7.6 million to put the policies in place. By November, more than 12,000 Arkansans had lost their insurance, and another 6,002 were in danger of losing it by December. In October, of the 69,041 clients subject to work requirements, nearly all were either already working or met exemption criteria. Only 401 reported new employment—less than 1 percent. “Nobody’s getting help getting a job; people are losing coverage,” says Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University.
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